Lead Data Engineer

Career Area: Technology, Digital and Data Job Description Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Lead Data Engineer Role Summary We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Data Engineer to design, build, and scale modern data solutions within a cloud-based environment, with a strong emphasis on Snowflake. This role combines hands‑on engineering excellence with technical leadership, guiding a small team of data engineers while delivering high‑quality, reliable, scalable, and AI‑ready data products. This individual will play a critical role in enabling data‑driven decision‑making, advanced analytics, machine learning, and generative AI initiatives by building trusted data products, scalable pipelines, reusable semantic models, and governed datasets that support business and technology outcomes. What You Will Do Data Engineering & Architecture Design and build scalable data ingestion pipelines from structured and unstructured data sources into Snowflake. Develop and maintain ELT/ETL processes to transform, cleanse, and integrate enterprise data. Design reusable dimensional, semantic, and business-ready data models that support analytics and AI use cases. Build and maintain consumable data products including curated datasets, data marts, semantic layers, APIs, and AI-ready data assets. Design and implement enterprise data architectures that support scalability, interoperability, and future AI adoption. AI-Ready Data Platforms Design and curate AI-ready datasets that support machine learning, generative AI, intelligent agents, and advanced analytics. Implement metadata, lineage, and semantic modeling capabilities that improve data discoverability and AI readiness. Collaborate with AI and analytics teams to establish patterns for retrieval, search, knowledge management, and AI-enabled business solutions. Evaluate and adopt emerging Snowflake capabilities, including Cortex AI, semantic models, vectorized data structures, and AI-related platform services. Data Products & Governance Apply Data Product Management principles by establishing ownership, quality standards, service levels, and lifecycle management processes. Implement data quality monitoring, automated validation, observability, and governance frameworks. Ensure compliance with enterprise security, privacy, regulatory, and data governance requirements. Establish and maintain metadata standards, data lineage, business definitions, and cataloging practices. Performance, Reliability & FinOps Optimize Snowflake performance through query tuning, workload management, storage optimization, and architectural improvements. Ensure high availability, reliability, and scalability across data platforms and pipelines. Implementing proactive monitoring, alerting, and observability practices. Drive cloud and Snowflake cost optimization through consumption monitoring, capacity planning, and engineering best practices. Leadership & Delivery Lead and mentor a team of 3–4 data engineers, providing technical leadership, coaching, and career development. Serve as the technical subject matter expert for Snowflake, modern data platforms, and AI-ready data engineering practices. Define and enforce enterprise data engineering standards, architectural patterns, and development best practices. Collaborate with business stakeholders, product owners, analysts, architects, and data scientists to translate business objectives into scalable data solutions. What You Have Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, or related technical field (or equivalent experience) 10+ years of experience in data engineering or related disciplines with increasing responsibility Expert knowledge of Snowflake architecture, security, performance tuning, and workload management. Strong SQL, data modeling, and data architecture skills. Experience building enterprise-scale ELT/ETL pipelines and data integration solutions. Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP). Proficiency in Python, Java, Scala, or similar modern programming languages. Top Candidates Will Have SnowPro Core or Advanced Snowflake certifications. Experience designing enterprise-scale Snowflake architectures. Experience supporting machine learning, generative AI, or agentic AI solutions through enterprise data platforms. Familiarity with Snowflake Cortex AI, semantic models, vector search, and AI-ready data architecture. Experience working with structured and unstructured data sources at scale. Experience designing data products and supporting analytics consumption patterns. Experience implementing data governance, metadata, lineage, and quality frameworks. Knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and platform automation practices. Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts into business value. Skills Descriptors Value Realization: Knowledge of value realization methods; ability to plan, execute, monitor and manage business activities and resources to determine and achieve the actual value from a business initiative as estimated in an associated business case. Communicating Complex Concepts: Knowledge of effective presentation tools and techniques to ensure clear understanding; ability to use summarization and simplification techniques to explain complex technical concepts in simple, clear language appropriate to the audience. Agile Development: Knowledge of agile methodologies and the agile development lifecycle; ability to utilize formal agile methodologies, disciplines, practices and techniques for the delivery of new and enhanced applications. Cloud Computing: Knowledge of cloud-based solutions and their applications; ability to design, implement, and manage cloud-based solutions to meet business needs and improve operational efficiency. Database Design: Knowledge of database systems; ability to establish a data model for designing an organization’s database that runs effectively and efficiently for better business outcome. ETL Process Knowledge of the extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) process; ability to develop a database through the ETL process. Information Management Knowledge of an organization’s existing and planned information Architecture and Information Management (IM) methodology; ability to collect and manage information from different sources and distribute this information to enhance operational efficiency. Modeling: Data, Process, Events, Objects Knowledge of data, process and events; ability to use tools and techniques for analyzing and documenting logical relationships among data, processes or events. Additional Info The location for this position is East Peoria, IL or Irving, TX. Domestic relocation is NOT available. This role requires 5 days onsite. SPONSORSHIP IS NOT AVAILABLE. What You Will Get Our goal at Caterpillar is for you to have a rewarding career. Our teams are critical to the success of our customers who build a better world. Here you earn more than just a salary because we value your performance. We offer a total rewards package that provides benefits on day one (medical, dental, vision, RX, and 401K) along with the potential of an annual bonus. Added benefits include paid vacation days and paid holidays. All qualified individuals - Including minorities, females, veterans, and individuals with disabilities - are encouraged to apply. About Caterpillar Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly one hundred years, we’ve been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed. Summary Pay Range $128,470.00 - $192,710.00 Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job‑related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar. Benefits Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits. Medical, dental, and vision benefits* Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)* 401(k) savings plans* Health Savings Account (HSA)* Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)* Health Lifestyle Programs* Employee Assistance Program* Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts* Career Development* Incentive bonus* Disability benefits Life Insurance Parental leave Adoption benefits Tuition Reimbursement * These benefits also apply to part-time employees Mandatory Conditions Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen. Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply. #J-18808-Ljbffr